Barcelona - Barri Gotic

The old medieval quarter was built on the ruins of Roman Barcino. Bits and pieces of Barcino can still be found in the Barri - concrete Roman tombs, bits of Roman wall that have been patched over and over again through the centuries, the odd bits of architecture hiding in more "modern" buildings' basements.

The center of the Barri is occupied by the cathedral and its square (the only sizable chunk of open space here). The cathedral was built in the 13th to 15th centuries (though the façade didn't get done until 1870). The façade was done from a 15th century design, but even so is not typical Barcelona High Gothic, but has the intricate spires of a more northerly medieval Gothic church.

The cathedral is usually packed with tourists and vibrant with camera flashes. It's a wonder that anyone still comes in to worship. Stationed at various points around the cathedral are buskers - mostly classical guitarists, but also accordions, hammered dulcimers, balalaikas, and saxophones.

Wrapped around the cathedral are dozens of churches on postage-stamp sized plazas, and "streets" that are no more than alleys, too narrow to let in the sun. Considering the heat, this is a relief.

Most traffic here is by foot. The occasional car or moped noses through the crowds, and the garbage truck and the street sweeper roll through at night, when everyone is either in bed or on Las Ramblas.